Early Cinema to 1915

Between the late 1880s and 1915, cinema is invented in at least three ways: as a technology; as a social and economic structure; and as a means of expression. It is the aim of this course to provide a chronological overview of these three inter-related developments. We will look first at the world that produces cinema, i.e. the state of late 19th century technology and technological development, the structure and meaning of the entertainment industry and the sorts of work that appear to anticipate film form. The course will then focus on the development of film narrative in the first two decades of the 20th century. We will look at a large number of short films–actualities, early comedy, drama and non-fiction– as well as features from the U.S., Great Britain, France and elsewhere. The focus of this year’s course will be on issues of gender, sexuality and race with a specific focus on the body and landscape in early cinema.